Mission

To create, preserve and communicate knowledge with respect to the health of populations and thereby contribute to the physical, psychological, cultural, social and economic well-being of the people of Manitoba, Canada and the world.

Goals

To fulfill its mission, the Department of Community Health Sciences strives:

To provide the highest quality education, employing a population-based approach to health and health care.

To play a leadership role in ensuring that all undergraduate teaching in the Faculty has a population health and critical appraisal perspective and preventive focus where appropriate.

To enhance student success by fostering an environment conducive to intellectual growth.

To conduct original scholarship and applied research in the area of population health of the highest quality as judged by international standards.

To serve the community by making its expertise available and where appropriate by providing exemplary service models to individuals, communities, institutions and governments to the fullest extent

History

The Department of Community Health Sciences (CHS) was created in 1987 through the merging of the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine (SPM) and the Division of Community and Northern Medicine (CNM).

SPM had existed as a small department within the medical school since the 1950s but had no full-time faculty members until the mid-1960s. Its first full-time Head, the late Dr. David Fish, was appointed in 1973. He began the recruitment of research scholars and scientists supported by career awards and lay the groundwork for SPM as a research-intensive department. A parallel development during the 1970s was the establishment and growth of the Northern Medical Unit (NMU) under the leadership of the late Dr. Jack Hildes. The NMU provided medical services to Aboriginal communities in the Keewatin region of the NWT and northern Manitoba. It was due to Dr. Hildes' foresight and energy that the University of Manitoba became an international leader in Aboriginal health care.

Dr. Hildes held the title of Associate Dean responsible for the Division of Community Medicine, which incorporated the NMU, the community medicine residency program and also undergraduate teaching in family and community medicine. It changed its name to the Division of Community and Northern Medicine (CNM) in 1984.

The creation of CHS in 1987 recognizes the confluence of interests and activities between the two units and aims to create a well-rounded department which excels in all three areas of teaching, research and service. Dr. Brian Postl became the first Head of the new department, a post he held until 1993. He was succeeded by Dr. Michael Moffatt, who served from 1993-1998, Dr. Kue Young from 1998 to 2002, Dr. John O'Neil from 2002 - 2007, Dr. Lawrence Elliott from 2007 to 2008 and Dr. Sharon Macdonald from 2008 to 2012 and currently Dr. Stephen Moses.